CEO of Cherokee Nation Businesses Shawn Slaton presents Catoosa High School faculty members Michelle Metcalf and Josh Brown with a CPR in Schools Training Kit.

Published May 6, 2016

CATOOSA, OKLAHOMA – The American Heart Association recently presented Catoosa High School with a CPR in Schools Training Kit. Funds for the kit were provided by Cherokee Nation Businesses to support the school’s staff in empowering students with lifesaving training.

“We are thrilled that Cherokee Nation Businesses and the American Heart Association have partnered to support our high school on the CPR mandate,” said Michelle Metcalf, assistant principal of Catoosa High School. “Our ultimate goal is to give quality training to our students, and perhaps save a life.”

CNB’s donation comes just one year after the state of Oklahoma’s CPR Requirement in Oklahoma High Schools law went into effect. The Dustin Rhodes and Lindsay Steed CPR Training Act, which began with 2015-16 seniors, requires all Oklahoma students to complete CPR training prior to high school graduation.

“The health and well-being of our employees and the citizens of our local communities remain a priority for Cherokee Nation Businesses,” said Shawn Slaton, CEO of Cherokee Nation Businesses. “We are honored to continue to work alongside the American Heart Association in support of their initiative to provide these integral education tools to our local schools.”

Cherokee Nation Businesses partners with American Heart Association and Catoosa Fire Department to present Catoosa High School staff and students with a CPR in Schools Training Kit.

Each all-in-one training kit is designed to teach the core skills of CPR in less than 30 minutes. It also teaches AED skills, as well as choking relief, and serves as a sustainable resource for hundreds of students. Catoosa schools expect to provide the hands-on training to roughly 135 seniors this school year.

“We are so grateful to have Cherokee Nation Businesses partner with us to provide these resources for their local schools,” said Ronica Ingram, senior Heart Walk director for the American Heart Association. “These kits equip hundreds of students each year with this lifesaving skill.”

In 2015, CNB began partnering with the American Heart Association to help provide local schools with the tools necessary to meet the state’s new CPR training requirements. The tribally owned company also funded a CPR in Schools Training Kit at Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly 424,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually, with less than 11 percent of victims surviving. Many victims appear healthy with no known heart disease or other risk factors. A sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack; it occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic, which causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. It is because of these reasons the American Heart Association is working tirelessly to make sure the bystander rate in Oklahoma increases and more people are educated on how to accurately and successfully perform CPR.